Sleeping car



Oct. 20, 1942. J. w. PATTON SLEEPING CAR Filed May 17, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l m m mm P W n m J A TTORN E Y Get. 20, 1942. J. w. PATTON 2,299,343

SLEEPING CAR Filed May 17, 1939 -2"Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR John W Paiion/ BY W/E M ATTORNEY I the novel arrangement Patented Oct. 20, 1942 John W. Patton,

Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company,

Philadelphia, Pa., a. corporation or Pennsylvania Application May 1'7, 1939, Serial No. 274,121

'3 Claims.

The invention relates to sleeping cars and more particularly to the arrangement of sleeping .compartments in such cars in which the beds extend transversely of the car body, such compartments being commonly called bedrooms.

In the ordinary bedroom, the lower bed is made up from a daytime couch extending transversely of the room and the upper is a foldable upper berth. Both project into the room and restrict the space when the room is made up for daytime occupancy. It is an object of the invention to provide a room of this class which is roomier and more like a room in a house when i made up for daytime occupancy and has all the advantages of the usual bedroom for 'nighttime occupancy, having two full width single beds arranged one above the other along one transverse wall of the room.

I achieve the objects ofthe invention by providing one transverse wall of the room with a recess or recesses and having the upper and lower beds ioldable into said recess thereby making the full width of the room available for daytime use, and giving it the appearance of a sitting room. Movable chairs are provided for daytime use.

Other and further objects and advantages of will become clear from the detailed description following when read in connection with the drawings forming a part hereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary diagrammatic horizontal sectional view through a rail car showing two adjacent rooms, one made up as a sleeping room and the other'as a sitting room.

Fig. 2 is a similar longitudinal vertical sectional view of the two adjacent rooms made up as a Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through one of the rooms looking toward the wall into which the beds are folded.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 slightly modified arrangement.

According to the preferred form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the car side walls are represented by the numerals l and H; adjacent the side wall I0 is arranged the aisle wall l2 and between the aisle wall l2 and the side wall II the car may be divided by transverse walls into a series of separate rooms.

Two adjacent rooms are shown separated by a showing a I common transverse wall I3 and having other transverse walls l4 and I5, respectively. The adjacentrooms, it willbe seen, are identical, the

arrangement being symmetrical on opposite sides of the plane of the common wall 13. The greater part of the common wall is comprised of three hinged sections 16, i1, i8 which are normally extended and locked in this position, as shown in Fig. 1, in full lines, but may be folded, as indicated in dotted lines and the curved dot-anddash lines marked with arrows, to throw the two adjacent rooms into one large room, if desired.

The walls i4 and i5 are thickened to provide upper and lower recesses l9 and 20 into which the beds 2| and 22,'normally made up ready for folded. When so folded their bottom walls are flush with the thickened walls [4 and I5. The beds are hinged to the walls 14 and i5 by hinges as 22 and 23 and counter-balanced by springs as 24 and 25.

Suitable supports and locking devices generally indicated at 26 are provided to support and lock the beds in their operative position.

The beds are provided with suitable locks, not shown, for locking them in the recesses, and handles 21 and 28 are associated with the respective beds 2| and 22 for locking and unlocking them and for. raising and lowering them.

Comfortable chairs 29 and 30 are provided for use, are, respectively,

,' daytime occupancy which chairs are movable to face the windows indicated at 3| and are preferably foldable so they can be stored under the beds when the rooms aremade up for nighttime occupancy.

Along the outside wall above the folded position of the upper bed is arranged a baggage rack 32 which may be extended transversely above the upper bed by a narrow ledge 33 of the width of the thickened wall portion receiving the beds and constituting the top wall of the upper recess, which ledge may also serve as a rack to receive small articles.

Each of the rooms is connected with the aisle by a doorway and door indicated by 34 and each is also provided in the corner opposite the beds and adjacent the side wall II by the usual covered hopper 34' and folding washstand 35, closet 36, etc.

The entire car may be made up of these rooms or the remainder of the car may be partly so made up and partly provided with other accommodations.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4, the space between the upper and lower beds 2| and 22, when they are in folded position, is closed by a movable panel 31 as distinguished from the fixed panel shown in Fig. 2, this movable panel being shown hinged to the lower bed 22 against which it may be folded when the bed is lowered. as shown in full lines at the left and in dotted lines at the right. Ifdesired it may be .arranged at right angles to the bed, when the latter is down, thus closing the space under the bed. From this position it may be swung up to the dotted line horizontal position for storing articles under the bed. In the vertical position it may also be used as a support for the outer edge of the bed and the separate supports 26 may be dispensed with. The counter-balancing springs, in this modification, are not shown. They could be arranged in any suitable manner, as along the hinge Joint. This modified arrangement has the advantage that the beds may be made any desired width, within limits, by reducing the width of the movable closing panel 37 between them. It also provides clear space the full width of the lower bed between it and the upper bed. In this form the transverse ledge above the upper bed has been omitted to afford similar clear space for the upper bed.

While several specific forms have been herein Q described, it will be understood that other and further modifications may occur to those skilled in the art and such modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a sleeping car having a side aisle, a con-,

vertible room bounded by an aisle wall, a car side wall, and spaced walls extending between the aisle wall and said side wall. one of said transverse walls being thickened and provided with upper and lower vertically spaced recesses, upper and lower beds transversely hinged along their length to the bottom margins of said recesses, said beds being adapted, when made up as beds, to extend and be supported in horizontal position in the room but leaving a substantial space of standing room height between the beds and the opposite wall, the beds being adapted to be swung as fully made-up beds upwardly about their hinged connections into said recesses, respectively, with their bottom wall surfaces flush with the surrounding wall surfaces, thereby converting the bedroom into a sitting room in which substantially the entire floor area is available as standing or sitting room;

2. In a sleeping car according to claim 1, in which the thickened portion of the thickened wall terminates below the ceiling of the room, and

at the upper transverse wall of the upper recess, said last-named wall providing a shelf above said thickened wall portion.

3. In a sleeping car according to claim 1, in which the thickened portion of the thickened wall terminates below the ceiling of the room and 5. In a sleeping car according to claim 1, in

which the upper and lower recesses intercommunicate and a movable panel closes the space between the beds when folded, said panel being hinged to one of said beds.

6. In a sleeping car according to claim 1, in which the top wall of the upper recess is omitted so as to afiord the maximum of clear space between the ceiling and the upper bed when supported in horizontal position.

'7. In a sleeping car according to claim 1, in which the upper and lower recesses intercommunicate, and a movable panel hinged to the lower bed is movable into one position to close the space between the beds when they are folded, and into another position to close the space under the lower bed when the latter is in horizontally extended position JOHN W. PATTON. 

